Near Protocol's Official X Handle Shrouded in Mystery: Cryptic Tweets, Layoffs, and Speculations Abound
Summary:
Near Protocol's official X handle posted a series of peculiar tweets, including a 27-second-long Morse code message about "darkness coming", prompting speculations of a potential account hijack. The posts were written in a Gothic theme, with cryptic messages about reclaiming sovereignty, adding to the intrigue. Near Foundation, the instigator of the protocol, recently slimmed its staff strength by 40% after identifying operational inefficiencies. Speculation is rife among Near Protocol's supporters about a major change forthcoming in the ecosystem. The developer's X account was previously compromised in a CoinGecko phishing scam.
The X handle of Near Protocol recently posted a string of peculiar tweets, urging its substantial fanbase of nearly two million to "reclaim your sovereignty" among other strange instructions. In the evening of May 8, at approximately 6:18 pm UTC, the Near Protocol's X handle disseminated a video with a Morse Code message lasting around half a minute, offering no explanation. The message, once decrypted by Cointelegraph, ominously read: "Darkness is coming." Source: Near Protocol
Roughly two hours after the enigmatic message was broadcasted on Twitter, four subsequent tweets were posted through Near’s X handle, all written in a hard-to-decipher gothic typeface often favored by heavy metal groups. The cryptic tweets read: "the sun rises in the east", "take back your thoughts", "darkness", and "reclaim your sovereignty". The name and bio of the Near Protocol's handle were also altered to correspond with the gothic theme of the messages. The following image displays the hacked X account of Near Protocol along with the aforementioned tweets. Source: Near Protocol
As of yet, Near Protocol has not given a response to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts and blockchain investigators are suspecting potential foul play, although no formal confirmation has been provided as of the time of reporting. However, some supporters of the protocol view the tweets as hints of a major development in the pipeline for their ecosystem.
In a previous incident, the X account of cryptocurrency data provider CoinGecko was exploited for a phishing ploy this January. Courtesy of swift action, the firm was able to regain control of its social media account. Near Foundation, the developer behind the eponymous layer-1 protocol, downsized its workforce by 40% to "significantly consolidate the core Foundation team to focus on a narrower and higher-impact set of activities" during the same time period.
The decision to downsize resulted in the termination of 35 staff members from the marketing, business development, and community teams, according to the company. Near Foundation pledged to extend support to its affected employees in pursuit of new opportunities both inside and outside the NEAR and Web3 industries. The layoffs were effected shortly after a review which identified operational inefficiencies within the Foundation. As part of its strategic future planning, the Foundation intends to further reduce its overall footprint as it takes steps towards complete decentralization in the upcoming years.
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Published At
5/9/2024 10:30:13 AM
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